Back in 2014, it was announced that a Shazam! movie was in the works, and would star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Since then, details on the project have been scarce; now, however, courtesy of an interview conducted by Newsweek, we have new details on the movie.
First off, Shazam! producer Dany Garcia confirmed that the film takes place in the DC Extended Universe, saying;
“Shazam! is to live in the same world [as the other films] but we have incredible autonomy over this brand and franchise. We are working with a different team, different producers, directors… it’s a different set-up.”
The success or failure of the other DC films doesn’t seem to affect the approach of Shazam!. Garcia said:
“We don’t feel fettered by, or constrained by, the successes or failures and challenges of the other projects. That was a key component to our participation—that we be able to control the tone and the voice, and do it the way we want to.”
Garcia also talked about how the character of Shazam will fit into the cinematic universe.
“It needs to be of the world. You’ve got Justice League, Wonder Woman with a different director, so you’re going to see different points of view. I think by the time we land with [Shazam!] we’ll fit nicely within the world that’s been created, but not such a shorthand relationship. [It’ll be] enough that people say, ‘Oh, this is within the family,’ but the culture will be a little different.”
Lastly, the producer gave word on how far into the filmmaking process they are right now, saying;
“We’re getting [script] drafts in… it’s important to make sure we get the tone right for Black Adam, which is Dwayne’s part. We don’t mind taking our time. We’re being very careful with each act and scene to go back and layer in as much as possible.”
How do you feel about the Shazam! film existing in the same universe as Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and all the other DCEU films? Be sure to let us know in the comments section down below.
Started in Brampton in 1987 as a malt extract brewery with only two beers on offer, Great Lakes Brewery has evolved over the years into a brewery with a well-rounded selection of award-winning brews. After moving to Etobicoke in 1991 and opening their retail store in 2000, Great Lakes Brewery really took off. It wasn’t long before GLB had a brew available in the LCBO. 2006 saw GLB’s Devil’s Pale Ale 666 hit the shelves of liquor stores all over Ontario. But, it wasn’t until 2011 that Ontarian beer drinkers were able to buy the award-winning Canuck Pale Ale, the beer I’m reviewing today, at their local LCBO’s. You can read the full GLB timeline on their website if you’d like; I’m going to drink some of this award-winning beer.
Great Lakes Brewery: Canuck Pale Ale – First Sip
Oh yah, Canuck Pale Ale pours a golden-yellow colour with a thin layer of head. Canuck Pale Ale has a piney scent, true to the ironic lumberjack on its 473 mL can. But, as the can mentions, this Canadian brew, in defiance of the lumberjack stereotype on its label, sloughs off the Canadian obsession with identity. It’s fundamentally an APA, and that “A” usually stands for “American,” … eh? But, jeez! Let’s not get bogged down by labels! Sorry … I prefer bitter beer so I like Canuck Pale Ale’s subtle hop-forward flavour. It has a well-balanced bitterness upfront, a result of its sharp hops flavour, that sticks to the tongue.
Great Lakes Brewery: Canuck Pale Ale – Last Sip
For posterity, I’m drinking my second beer straight from the can … for posterity. Unlike some hop-forward beers that rely on strong aromas to bring out the taste, Canuck Pale Ale has a subtle smell that acts as a bonus more than a necessity. So, enjoying this beer straight from the can implies no severe penalty, beyond not being able to enjoy its clear-golden colour as you drink it from the glass. Luckily, you can still enjoy Canuck Pale Ale’s bitter flavour augmented by its fizzy mouthfeel from the can. Even if you thumbgun it, eh?! But, at 5.2% ABV, I implore you to thumbgun responsibly.
Happy Tim Tebow Week 2016! Or as it’s more commonly known in North Florida, the last decade.
As you undoubtedly know by now, Tebow announced Tuesday he’s seriously pursuing a professional baseball career. Citing the fact that in high school, he murdered almost as many baseballs as former teammate Aaron Hernandez has people, ESPN’s Adam Schefter got the party started:
“Tebow was an all-state baseball player in Florida that year and hit .494 as a junior, helping Nease High School reach the final four of the Florida state playoffs.”
Apparently, since the window has closed on Timmy’s annual will-some-team-desperate-to-sign-a-QB-make-a-move-on-the-weak-armed-poor-performing-Christian-with-the-heart-of-gold sweepstakes (essentially a sequel to The Brett Favre Over the Hill Gunslinger Media Meltdown and Newsfeed Jam, which ran every offseason from 2008-2011), he called an audible. Something he also struggled with during his football career. Of course, much of the sporting world had to chime in…
WARNING: Hot Takes Ahead!
Former destroyer of a perfectly good sanitary sock, and current unemployed right-wing internet troll Curt Schilling, via Yahoo! Sports:
“The comment I heard,” Schilling said, “was that he was a really good hitter in high school. Well, I was too. I was really good hitter in high school and I (hit) .100-something in the big leagues. I saw him swing the other day. He looks like he’s got a nice swing. I think he’d kick the crap out of people in the 30-and-over league.”
Orioles Manager, and “Seinfeld” guest star, Buck Showalter, via MASN:
“I better leave that one alone. Am I intrigued? No, not at all. Amused? No, not at all,” said Showalter. “I think about what these guys do in our Dominican Academy and Delmarva and Aberdeen and the Gulf Coast League and Frederick and Bowie and Norfolk, I take very seriously the stuff they have to do to get the opportunities and do what they’re doing. Somebody will sell some tickets in the spring. I should be careful, we may sign him.”
“I bet he was a good player in high school. I was, too,” concluded Showalter.
Human incarnation of the loudest, worst-smelling fart you’ve ever experienced, Skip Bayless, tweeted:
Tim Tebow, suddenly trying to become a pro baseball player at age 29? Impossible. Which is why I wouldn't bet against him.
To make things more ridiculous, are the comparisons to Michael Jordan, who famously quit basketball at the prime of his career to pursue a dream of playing baseball. I think anyone who watches sports and hasn’t been drinking the holy water knows what a terribly spurious comparison that is. But for those who don’t, let’s remember MJ was coming off his third consecutive NBA championship and was the most famous athlete on the planet. He wasn’t a washed-up, never-was who couldn’t make a pro team, and whose polarizing popularity had more to do with his beliefs than his athletic performance. AND HE STILL FAILED!
With that being said, once the baseball fantasy is derailed, and we are again (temporarily) bereft of the all-Tebow, all-the-time news cycle, here are three suggested occupations he can take a run at to get him back in the news in 2017 and beyond.
Hockey:
“He was an all-neighborhood roller hockey player, and scored 32 goals in a weekend in 2002 as a 15-year-old, which helped his cul-de-sac’s team win a plate of Totino’s Pizza Rolls from Mrs. Taylor.” – Adam Schefter, ESPN, August 9, 2017
Drive Time DJ:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gainesville, FL (May 22, 2018) – Famous Christ-worshipper, infrequent TV personality, and three-time pro sports failure Tim Tebow, has been named Christian Radio 88.9 The Ark’s morning drive-time co-host, filling the station’s 6am-9am weekdays slot.
Tebow will join co-host Pastor Terry Jones, who most famously (unsuccessfully) tried to hold a Koran-burning protest on Sept. 11, 2013, at his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, before joining The Ark’s staff in late 2016.
The pair will begin broadcasting together on May 29, with the debut of “Timmy and The Douche in the Morning.”
“My appearances on ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘SEC Nation’ aside, I don’t have any professional experience in radio, but I did record myself doing play-by-play over old pee-wee football tape as a teenager,” Tebow said. “[Timmy and the Douche] is basically going to be Pastor Jones and I spinning Bronze Age half-truths and misconceptions to the masses of staunch Christians in North and Central Florida from Monday-Friday. God Bless!”
Tebow’s inability to play sports at the highest level is overshadowed only by his unwavering ability to proselytize to the most vapid and intellectually vacant amongst us. He will also circumcise your children for a small fee.
#####
Singer-Song-Writer (2019):
“The comment I heard,” Boz Scaggs said, “was that he was a really good singer-songwriter in high school. Well, I was too. I was really good singer-songwriter in high school and “Lowdown” is still my only top-five single. I saw him playing and singing the other day. He looks like he’s got some decent pipes. I think he’d kick the crap out of people at the karaoke contest at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville.”
If all else fails, look for Tebow at a megachurch near you — or at the 2020 Republican National Convention.
“The line I always use is, ‘I got into for the beer, but I’ve stayed in it for the community’.”
When you hear Quinn Gardner, owner of Sactown Union Brewery, say that it might be easy to dismiss as just some marketing jargon. But when you talk to Gardner and his partner and head brewer Michael Barker, you quickly realize they are living every word.
“There’s duality to (the idea of community). On one hand there’s the literal sense of it being Sacramento and East Sacramento and working with groups here to push the greater good. One the other hand, it’s sort of more metaphorical sense– the community of craft brewing,” says Gardner.
Sactown Union is one of the new kids on the block when it comes to the region’s burgeoning brewing scene. But its roots are steeped in beer history and an appreciation of those who came before.
“We have all the pictures framed on the wall of the pioneers of the craft brewing industry,” Gardner explains. “The Sir Isaac Newton quote above it, ‘If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants’, if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be here.”
Furthering the idea of a brewing community, the shelf of growlers from other local beer makers, and the walk-in door covered in brewery stickers. Gardner says there’s no room for competition because the success of one brewery can only help the rest.
GIVING BACK
And while the brewing community matters to Sactown Union, Gardner and Barker says they have a responsibility and a role in the community that surrounds them.
“I have a belief that there should be a brewery on every corner of every neighborhood, so people in the community have somewhere to go and socialize,” says Barker. “It’s not just a drinking establishment, it’s a place to go meet your friends, socialize.”
Socialize and be socially aware. In its five months of operation Sactown Union has already held fundraising events in response to the shootings in Orlando, hosted a dog-adoption event and uses its seasonal beers to raise money for a variety of good causes.
“We call it ‘The Revolutionaries Series’… (the beers) are named and brewed in honor of various social catalysts, people who made our community better.” Gardner explains that a mural on the tasting room wall is a sort-of guide to the causes they support. “So Dr. King is up there with a hornet on his shoulder because of a beer that we call ‘Freedom Ryder’. The Freedom Riders of ’61, themselves being students, and the premium Dr. King put on education, (sales from) that beer go to a scholarship at Sac State for kids who are studying to be educators in the inner city.”
The Sactown Brewery mural showing the figures who inspire ‘The Revolutionaries Series’.
Sactown Union brews a Helles Lager called ‘First Responder’ that supports the Sacramento Firefighters Burn Institute. Another brew will be released around Labor Day in honor of labor rights leader Cesar Chavez and that money will help the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services. “So again, it’s that sort of greater sense of we have this platform, we need to use it,” Gardner says.
A DECADE OF PLANNING
It’s a platform Gardner has been planning for more than a decade. Dreaming of owning his own brewery, he started in the beer business working for Coors. That job gave him his first exposure to California’s Central Valley and specifically Sacramento. He eventually left to work as an area manager for Sierra Nevada. One of his areas was Santa Cruz where he met Barker.
Barker has been brewing beer since the mid-90s after he made a dramatic career change. “I was a fireman for 10 years. I just wanted something different.” He says fortune smiled on him putting him in the right place at the right time to learn the brewing business from someone who was open to teaching him. “No regrets about it either. This is what I started doing, this is what I enjoy, so I didn’t look back at all.”
Barker was the piece Gardner was missing to complete his dream of owning his own brewery. Still, it would be several years before they would go into business together. “If you had asked us at the time we were going to open within the next year or two,” Gardner recalls. It would actually be seven and a half years of planning, painstaking research and eventually relocating to Sacramento before Sactown Union opened. “We waited until we were ready, until we had the location, we had the funds, we had the team, we had everything else behind us instead of just ambition and a plan.”
THE PLAN IN ACTION
The evidence of that plan and ambition are everywhere you look inside the brewery. “Everything is deliberate. We didn’t just throw out some picnic benches and call it good,” Gardner explains. This shows in everything from the light fixtures, to the chairs, to the bar back designed in the likeness of Sacramento’s Tower Bridge.
The bar back inspired by Sacramento’s Tower Bridge.
The beer-brewing partners say it’s a surreal feeling to own their own brewery and that they’ve been so busy they haven’t had time to enjoy as much as they’d like. Still, Barker says there are have been moments, “Probably one of the better feelings is when you walk out to the bar and see people enjoying something that you made.”
The plans are to distribute Sactown Union beer in five states over the next five years, but Gardner says he doesn’t want to grow too fast. He says they will once again be selective about where and how they sell their beer because at the end of the day, no matter how big they get ‘community’ will still be at the heart of it all.
“Our tag line is ‘we’re not just brewing beer, we’re brewing community’.” And when Gardner says it, you know he means it.
Every once in a while, I’m reminded of one of Marvel’s oldest characters, Namor of Atlantis, the Sub-Mariner.
Fans of Marvel Comics like Namor about as much as they do Scott Summers – not exactly a favorite. Possibly a bit misunderstood, it has always been difficult to like a character that abducted Sue Storm, wrecked cities and always acted like he’s better than everyone else. Namor has always been a character study in how not to act.
Not a warm and fuzzy character
Regardless of likability, the Sub-Mariner has been a fixture in Marvel Comics since the 1940’s. Our own Monkeys Fighting Robots, Michael Bedford just detailed the character’s impact at Timely Comics during those early years. When Marvel re-embraced the super hero genre in the 1960’s, Namor was a frequent villain and anti-hero. The now-classic (and upcoming Netflix series) Defenders comic book of the 1970’s actually featured Doctor Strange and Namor.
Although Namor can be less than loveable , Marvel has always kept him in active storylines, including last year’s Secret Wars and its precursors.
NOTE: ADDITIONAL SECRET WARS SPOILERS
As most fans already know, at the conclusion of Secret Wars, the multiversally-displaced Squadron Supreme had a new mission and a pretty big itch to scratch regarding Namor.
Hyperion scratched it.
In one of the best art-sequences of the past year, we learned the fate of Namor in the current Marvel Universe.
Marvel’s long-time anti-hero and first mutant lost his head.
In those few panels, we learned a great deal Hyperion as a character in Marvel NOW. We also came to terms with a very complicated figure that has been part of the Marvel mythos for 75 years.
I’m not sure if anyone is missing Prince Namor.
Since comics frequently resurrect the deceased, it’s frequently assumed that now-dead characters will return at some point. I will admit that coming back from an injury such as Namor endured would be a bit challenging for any writer.
So, I have to ask myself that in addition to my question of where is Namor’s head, I’m curious as to what Marvel can or will do with the character in the future.
What’s next for The Sub-Mariner?
In what appears to be ongoing speculation for many Marvel properties, this characters fate may be tied to movie rights. Last we knew, the rights are locked up over at Universal Pictures, in what is their only Marvel character licensure. In fact, questions surrounding which entertainment giant would get their Hero of the Sea to market the quickest in order to establish a potential franchise for niche character. Did the Universal Pictures situation cool out the pursuit of this property? Clearly, the DCEU has gotten their water-hero to the screen first, with Jason Momoa in the role as Aquaman. Interestingly, if you had to cast an actor for Namor, who would it be? That’s right, Jason Momoa. Don’t you think the DCEU’s version of Aquaman is just a touch Namor-ish?
I don’t know what this bodes for the future of our aquatic hero if there is one at all. Namor has been separated from his head (Highlander rule-book), his movie rights are at Universal and DCEU’s next hot prospect looks just like the Sub-Mariner.
Don’t look now, but I think Namor’s head ended up over at DC…
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: NBA legend, creator of the Skyhook and Comic Book Writer
Everyone knows who Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is. He’s an NBA Hall-of-Famer who is the best scorer in the history of basketball. An icon. Interestingly, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was also a student of Bruce Lee’s back in the day. Also another icon.
Either one of those achievements is amazing. Together, they catapult Jabbar to the status of one of the coolest dudes on the planet. So you can imagine my surprise to find his name atop a comic book as the lead writer for a new title from Titan Comics.
In 2015, Jabbar released a novel based on Mycroft Holmes, the brother of the legendary fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. This work gained enough acclaim that Titan Comics optioned it for a mini-series.
I’ll admit that having a teaser such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made me take a second look at the offering, and I’m pleased that I did. This was a really strong kickoff to the mini-series.
Well-written with exceptional artwork made this an easy read and left me ready for the next issue. Cassara’s fairly tight pencils reflected the feel of Victorian England and also had a wide viewpoint that allowed the reader to gain a sense of detail that close-up panels might not afford. The color palette moved from antique warmth to rainy cool.
Jabbar and Obstfeld work up an easily flowing script for the first issue that sets up a story called The Apocalypse Handbook. Set in 1874, the story follows the brilliant, self-centered and obnoxious Mycroft Holmes on a particular adventure throughout London all the while sharpening his wit on his brother, his Oxford classmates and his unsuspecting professor. Jabbar and his fellow creators, serve up a nice opening to the mini-series leaving the reader ready for the next episode and if they’re anything like me, marveling at how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got even cooler.
Glitterbomb #1 from Image Comics is a standout book that is self-aware and understands the true meaning of suspense as you are captivated from the start. This is a must read on September 7.
The creators of ‘Glitterbomb’ Jim Zub and Djibril Morissette-Phan called in to discuss the book and the ever changing world of the comic book industry.
The first half of Glitterbomb #1 has an Aaron Sorkin feel; that’s reminiscent of Will McAvoy’s opening scene from ‘Newsroom,’ but Zub explains that the book is more personal than that.
“There is elements of that. There’s definitely that aspect of stepping back from the big cultural picture and looking at it and dissecting it, but I don’t want it to be, it’s not just someone standing and wagging a finger at you and telling what they think. It’s very much about a character story and the difficult choices and the frustrating situations she finds herself in. I think anyone of us can empathize with that. We don’t live in Los Angeles, and we haven’t go through the ups and downs of acting, but all of us have been frustrated about not getting what we want or feeling like we’ve been pushed out of situations or occupations that we have always wanted. And probably through no fault of our own, sometimes we get caught on the wrong side of bad decisions,” said Zub.
With almost every form of media, you are competing against a million others for those precious few minutes of the viewer. The comic book industry is no different; Zub talked about the thought process going into setting up the first issue.
“You want to set that tone. Really, Glitterbomb takes off in the first three pages. The first three pages set a tone, and they let you know what we are in for. That this character is caught in the grind of Hollywood, and she has had enough. (…) We launch really strong, and then I feel like we earn hopefully some capital with the reader that we can slow down a bit and expand upon the emotional story once we’ve grabbed you with that initial shock,” said Zub.
Listen to the complete Jim Zub and Djibril Morissette-Phan interview below.
GLITTERBOMB #1
Story By: Jim Zub
Art By: Djibril Morissette-Phan
Farrah Durante is a middle-aged actress hunting for her next gig in an industry where youth trumps experience. Her frustrations become an emotional lure for something horrifying out beyond the water… something ready to exact revenge on the shallow celebrity-obsessed culture that’s led her astray. Fan-favorite JIM ZUB (WAYWARD, Thunderbolts) and newcomer DJIBRIL MORISSETTE-PHAN tear into the heart of Hollywood in GLITTERBOMB, a dramatic horror story about fame and failure.
You can pick up Glitterbomb #1 at your local comic book store on September 7. Enjoy the three-page preview.
Paramount Pictures released the first trailer to Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Allied’ starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.
“ALLIED” is the story of intelligence officer Max Vatan (Pitt), who in 1942 North Africa encounters French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (Cotillard) on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Reunited in London, their relationship is threatened by the extreme pressures of the war.
Hell or High Water is a delight, an oasis in the middle of the cinematic lost highway that is mid to late August. But it would stand on its own any time of the year. What initially shows its hand as a traditional crime drama, about small town cops and crooks, becomes something much more complex on these Texas back roads. This is a morality play, a politically savvy cautionary tale, a thriller, a rich Texas Noir, and it’s peppered with more laughs than any of the big summer tentpoles combined.
Chris Pine an Ben Foster play Toby and Tanner, two brothers who are in the middle of a calculated bank robbery spree when we first meet them. They have what seems to be a strict set of rules, a finite plan, and they only hit lonely banks in dying Texas towns. At one point a target bank is deemed too big because it actually appears to have customers. These brothers are getting just enough money to pay off a reverse mortgage and tax debt, but their reasons for getting square with the banks run deeper.
Pine’s Toby is the more measured and clearheaded brother. Of course. No surprise since the other brother is played by Ben Foster. At the same time though, Foster manages to keep his typical manic hamminess in check while still defining Tanner as the looser of these two cannons. It’s pretty cool seeing Chris Pine in a film like Hell or High Water, too. It proves Pine is more than The New Captain Kirk. He has some depth to him, and despite his impossible good looks he works hard here to try and hide while showing us something beneath that glossy facade.
The brothers’ robbery spree eventually lands in the reluctant lap of Marcus Hamilton, a small-town police officer played with mealy-mouthed brilliance by Jeff Bridges. Marcus is (wait for it) a few days from retirement, and he doesn’t really want to get into this mess. But he does, because he’s a man of the law, and what else would he be doing? Oh, and he’s a little racist towards his partner, and just a little “Clint Eastwood” in his opinions about society. Probably. But it’s all okay, because this is the sunbaked nothingness of West Texas, where towns die faster than the rattlesnakes, and where a socially unacceptable curmudgeon like Marcus Hamilton makes perfect sense.
And it’s these small details that make Bridges’ performance so incredible.
I spent the first 25 years of my life in or near these small Texas towns in David Mackenzie’s film. And I have known, in one way or another, this character Jeff Bridges is playing. In a lot of ways he’s my dad, and seeing Bridges sink into this mumbling, old school cowboy, a mirror image of the dead West Texas towns he defends, is a marvel. Jeff bridges is a national treasure, and this is one of his finest moments. It’s hard to believe he didn’t grow up in the dusty plains himself.
Hamilton and his Native-American partner (Gil Birmingham), whose friendship is one of the more honest relationships in 2016 cinema, are on the inevitable collision course with Toby and Tanner. But their paths cross in unpredictable ways, and the journey of both the lawmen and their targets are given their fair share of screen time. Which is crucial, because as Hell or High Water bobs along we find ourselves pulling for both sides. Nobody here is a bad person, they’re just survivalists.
Bridges’ Hamilton is quite a character, a lovable bumpkin with a badge, and he and his partner appear to genuinely care for each other. The action unfolds and we find out what Hamilton is made of in two crucial moments. But the focus of the film is Toby and Tanner’s relationship. From the moment we see these two brothers, what is unspoken defines their relationship more than the utilitarian dialogue driving the plot forward. These are all lived in performances, and almost immediately we buy these two as siblings, cut from the same cloth. But just barely the same cloth; maybe opposite ends of it.
Hell or High Water has a few moments of violence, but none of it exists without motivation. And these violent acts seem to carry real aftereffects. Bridges’ character has to kill in one scene, and he conveys the weight of consequence in a brief moment that is as impactful as the greatest monologue. Plus, in the middle of this taut, contained little narrative, is a commentary on the “Second Amendment People” who’ve been in the news recently. Mackenzie and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan manage to fit these gun-toting vigilantes in the story and comment on them through plot developments, all without drawing heavy-handed attention. It adds another layer to a film that operates on so many levels.
There are easy comparisons to make here. No Country For Old Men springs to mind almost immediately. But, as great as the Coens’ film is, there’s something more authentic about Hell or High Water. The settings in this film – kitchens with full laundry baskets and horizons that seem to stretch into infinity – are rich in detail, and they’re absolute representations of this world. It’s uncanny to think Mackenzie is a Brit, but here he is, capturing the very essence of Texas Noir better than just about anyone.
What’s most refreshing about this film is its third act. While there are moments of action and violence, Mackenzie either didn’t feel the need to (or wasn’t forced to) film a shoot-em-up finale. The story ends where it should, as it would, and it’s more rewarding than any sort of bloodshed these sort of small indie thrillers are typically addicted to.
It’s a shame something like this brilliant little glimpse into human nature has been rated R, for no real reason, when a garbage exploitation of violence and depravity (and bullshit) like Suicide Squad skates by with a PG-13. It’s time to end the MPAA. But that’s for another time. For now, you should seek out Hell or High Water and soak up its subtle intelligence. It’s a breath of fresh air.
